House prices in the Mississauga Real Estate Market are up almost 14% from this time last year; if you’re thinking of selling, now is the time! Read on to have an idea of how best to prepare your home for the market.
While it might be easy to sit back and just let buyers come to you in such a hot market, to get the best offers, your house should look amazing. You want buyers to want your home no matter what. Here’s how you can do that.
Don’t Forget the Small Things
Take a slow walk around your house and look at it with your mother’s eyes — you know the eyes that would see a speck of dust a mile away. Keep an eye out for those easy-to-remove scuff marks that you’ve become accustomed to. You might find some small dings in your baseboard that are easy to either clean off or paint over. If you have tile and carpet, look at the transition strips. It may seem like the list of small things is never-ending, but checking off a completed small item not only gives you a great endorphin rush but moves you that much closer to selling your house at a great price.
Get the Mower Out
If you have grass, make sure you keep it at a nice, tidy length. If you have rock or chip coverage, a nightly review to make sure rocks or chips haven’t migrated to where they don’t belong is another small, easy chore to keep the outside of your house looking great. Your gardens will need love too, so if you’ve been avoiding the weeds and letting them live their own lives, now is the time to do some pulling. A fresh coat of paint along your front entrance will make your house appealing before prospective buyers come through the front door.
Welcoming Environment
Mississauga summers can get exceptionally hot these days, so not only should your air conditioner be on, it shouldn’t be reminding buyers of last night’s meal. This is your gentle reminder to book your HVAC maintenance if you haven’t done so already. Another way to make your home inviting right from the get-go is to open the drapes, add some flowers for a pleasant aroma, and some fresh fruit in the kitchen for a lovely aesthetic.
Pack away the unnecessaries that seem to multiply in closets — especially front door closets. You want your buyers to envision themselves living there, and closets crammed with coats, umbrellas, boots, or anything else that finds its way there will lose the illusion. Taking down personal photos will also help buyers think of this home as their home.
Honey Do
Regardless if you or someone else is the curator of the “honey-do” list, it can no longer be ignored. That squeaky stair? Time to de-squeak it. Wobbly doorknobs? It’s got to be tightened. Any leaky taps should be fixed. Windows should be crystal clear as well. And then comes the cleaning that we all like to avoid: the heavy cleaning. The fridge and the stove should be cleaned – and don’t forget to remove old items from your fridge. Adding some baking soda is a great idea to minimize the unfriendly odour. Add 2 cups of distilled white vinegar into your washing machine’s detergent dispenser. Put it on the longest cycle with the hottest water. Once that’s finished, put half a cup of baking soda into the drum of the machine and wash it again using the same settings. While that’s being cleaned, take a vacuum to the interior dryer to catch any lint or other debris that tends to gather over its life cycle.
This is not an exhaustive list, but while you tackle these items, it’s entirely possible you’ll be made aware of other small things to patch, scrub, or replace while you prepare your home for a hot Mississauga real estate market.